Stuff yer bake

This recipe is a real favourite of ours for weekend lunches. It is so simple yet delicious and we never seem to tire of it. maybe because they are so versatile and you can put pretty much whatever you like in them. The recipe comes from Jamie’s Dinners and is well worth a try. This time I decided to put some prawns into it and a touch of lime to jazz it up a bit.

Ingredients

Pack of flour tortillas

3 Spring onions

1 red (or any other colour you fancy) pepper, finely chopped

1 red or green chilli, deseeded and finely chopped

zest of one lime

a small handful of raw prawns

1 clove of garlic finely chopped

1 handful of grated cheddar and 1 of red leicester (again you can experiment with different cheeses)

1 little olive oil for frying

Heat a frying pan to a high temperature and add a little olive oil. Throw in the chilli and garlic and stir for a couple of minutes before adding the prawns. Fry until the prawns are pink and completely cooked. Slice the prawns once slightly cooled and add them to all the other ingredients in a bowl. Take a flour tortilla and sprinkle a little of the mixture onto it making sure you don’t add too much filling as the cheese will just drip out once cooked. Top with another tortilla and sandwich together. Warm a dry frying pan over a medium heat and put the filled tortilla onto it. Cook for a minute or so until golden on one side and then flip over to do the other side. Once cooked, remove from the pan, slice into triangles and serve with some bought or homemade guacamole.

I was busy as usual trying to find cheap and quick meals for my food order for the week and this one jumped off the page. It looked tasty, easy, healthy and had only a few ingredients so ticked all the appropriate boxes. I fiddled with the recipe a bit as I usually do because I’m incapable of leaving things alone (as my other half always tell me). I added a little finely grated lemon zest and a bit of grated parmesan in the sauce as well as on top which did give it a bit more depth ( I felt I had to replace some of calories lost with cheese as I used low fat creme fraiche!) It turned out really well, so well done to Good Food magazine this month for making my week of food so tasty. 

Serves 2

200g linguini

1 tbsp olive oil

1 red chilli, finely chopped

1 clove of garlic

2 courgettes, grated

2 tbsp creme fraiche

2 tsp lemon zest

grated parmesan to serve

Put a large saucepan of salted water on to boil and cook the pasta according to instructions. While the pasta is cooking, heat the oil in a frying pan over a low heat and add the chilli and garlic and stir but don’t allow it to brown. Turn up the heat and add the courgette and stir for a few minutes to cook and allow any water to evaporate. Stir in the creme fraiche, lemon zest and season well. Drain the pasta and coat in the sauce adding some grated parmesan and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil to finish. 

I am enjoying making recipes out the new Bill Granger cook book. One of the most successful recipes I tried this week was a recipe for roasted pumpkin with cumin and cayenne pepper but unfortunately there seemed to be a pumpkin/squash drought and so I plumped for sweet potato instead.The combination of the soft luscious sweet potato, the salty cheese and olives and the sharp shallot dressing was to die for. This is a really quick and simple recipe that I will definitely be doing again.

Serves 2

Ingredients

• 1 packet of washed salad leaves
• 2 medium sweet potatoes
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• olive oil
• 100g feta cheese, crumbled
• couple of handfuls of kalamata olives, pitted

Dressing

• 1 tblsp red wine vinegar
• 60 ml extra virgin olive oil
• 1 shallot finely sliced

Cut the sweet potato into roughly 2 inch cubes and place in a bowl. Add the cumin, cayenne pepper, a good slug of olive oil, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and mix to coat all of the sweet potato. Tip the sweet potato out onto a roasting tray or tin and spread out. Bake at 220 degrees centigrade for about 30 minutes or until slightly golden on the outside and nice and soft in the middle.To make the dressing simply whisk together all the ingredients. Assemble the salad on a plate and drizzle over the dressing. Enjoy!

I really love trifle but I hate the ones with jelly in them. I’m probably being a bit snobby but I think jelly is a bit tacky and I also don’t really like the texture. This recipe is really quick and easy, which is a must for around Christmas when you have run out of time or can’t face any more slaving over hob.

Ingredients

• 1 box of Trifle sponges
• 500ml ready made custard (get the best stuff you can or make you own if you like)
• 250g Mascarpone cheese ( I found a reduced fat one which made me feel less gluttonous)
• Ground cinnamon
• 280ml Whipping cream
• Frozen berries 300g (anything you like)
• Brandy
• Juice and zest of 1 orange
• 4 tblsp Golden caster sugar

First cut the trifle sponges in half and use them to line the bottom of the trifle bowl. Put a splosh of brandy (it is really up to you how much you want to add) into a bowl and add half the juice of the orange and the zest. Pour this over the trifle sponge base and leave to soak in. Put the berries into a saucepan with the caster sugar and heat until the berries have melted and the sugar has dissolved. Leave to cool and then pour over the trifle sponge base. Take the custard and add the mascarpone cheese and a couple of tsp of cinnamon, whisking together until combined. Pour this over the top of the fruit and let the trifle set in the fridge for a while. Whip the cream until soft peaks and use to decorate the top of the trifle. Serves 6-8